


A Little Less Conversation

by GettheSalt



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Chuck AU, Fitz is the Intersect, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, side Trimmons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 03:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3512702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettheSalt/pseuds/GettheSalt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo Fitz never asked to become a living, breathing CIA computer. Being the Intersect hasn't exactly improved his life. There's a lot more danger, and secrecy, now, than there was before. Oh, and the whole thing where he has a huge crush on his NSA handler. Too bad that handler doesn't return the feelings. At all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Less Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> This has the potential to become a series, but for this it was just fun to fool around in the universe. (Who am I kidding, I'm probably going to write a lot more. I have to include Jemma and Trip in the next one.)

“How does a guy like _you_ land a guy like _him_?”

Leo Fitz hadn't been stupid enough to ask himself that same question. The fact of the matter was that the person that Lance and Mack saw walking into the Buy More and perceived to be Leo's boyfriend was actually his NSA Handler, and cover boyfriend, and basically, everything about that whole situation sucked.

“You're not even gay, Lance, why do you care?” Skye asked, on his other side, rolling her gum to the side of her mouth as she spoke to Leo's fellow Nerd Herder. At least he had his best friend on his side.

...Even if she thought Ward was his boyfriend, too.

Being a living CIA computer  _really_ put a damper on the level of honesty between oneself and one's friends and coworkers. 

Not that he'd been that open and trusting with Lance and Mack before but-- All right, that wasn't important. What was important was the back and forth glances that Lance and Mack were casting on Ward, and then on Leo, and back again. “It's the accent.” He answered, succinctly, catching Skye's smirk, before he got out of his chair and went around the desk to meet Ward.

It was difficult to ignore the tightening knot in his stomach, as he approached the agent. Ward was in his Orange Orange uniform, the job that served as his cover, which made things all the more annoying. Ward shouldn't have looked good in white pants and a pastel orange polo shirt, but somehow it just  _worked_ for him. Everything worked for him. It was frankly disgusting.

So was Leo's terribly strong urge to turn his mouth just a little and steal a real, true, actual, honest to God kiss when Ward reached him and leaned down, his lips not even grazing the other's cheek. From where everyone else stood, it would look like a loving peck on the cheek, though.

If it had been a loving peck on the cheek, Fitz would be goddamn swooning where he stood. That wouldn't really look good for their cover relationship.

“Hey, honey,” Ward greeted, all flirty smiles and bright eyes. Fitz felt the knot in his stomach tighten at the same time as his heart fluttered. He was so _easy_ , it was ridiculous. “How's your day going? Think you'd maybe be able to get free soon to come over to the Orange Orange? We've got a new flavour I think you're gonna _love_.” Ward paired the last word with a casual run of his fingers through his hair. He looked like a goddamn supermodel. This just wasn't fair.

“I... Uh...” Leo smiled, faltered, smiled again. “Maybe?”

“Sure, you can go!” Skye hollered, drawing their attention. She was leaning against the Nerd Herd desk, at ease in her khaki capris and green Buy More polo. Next to her, in their own Nerd Herd attire, Lance and Mack seemed to be trying to work out the factors that led to Leo Fitz getting with a guy like Grant Ward. “These guys can hold down the fort, right? Right?” She snapped her fingers. “Hello?”

“Uh, right!” Lance said, catching on, finally, and leaving the world of confusion he'd been traipsing around in behind.

“We got it!” Mack backed him up, before the two of them turned away to go back to working on a client's computer, muttering furiously.

“Oh, perfect. Thanks, guys!” Ward called, then reached down, grabbing Leo's hand. It would have been sweet if he hadn't been dwelling on how _fake_ their whole relationship was. He still went along, letting Ward take him out of the store and halfway across the parking lot before he dared to say anything that wasn't cover babble.

“There's no new flavour of froyo, is there?”

“Nope,” Ward answered, the sweet tone in his voice gone, melted into the gruff persona he usually had around Leo. “But I had to get you out of there. Bobbi's already waiting for us in Castle.”

“So, wait, this is for an assignment?” Without letting go of Ward's hand, Leo pointed back towards the Buy More. “They're going to get suspicious if my lunch break takes more than half an hour, Grant.”

Ward gave him a flat look. Leo hated that damn look. It was the one that just barely managed not to say 'You're a damn idiot and I can't believe you've gotten this far in life. It truly amazes me.' He was proud of himself for letting go of Ward's hand, and tucking both of his own in the pockets of his black pants. They were far enough across the lot now that they didn't need to worry about anyone seeing them not holding hands.

For his part, Ward didn't seem to care. Of course he didn't. It was his job to be an unfeeling robot. “It's a briefing. Mission probably won't be until tonight.”

“I'm supposed to help Jemma out tonight with going through some old stuff of our dad's.”

“Tough. Your duty to your country comes first now,” Ward held open the door for him. “Intersect.”

Right. That's all he was, really, wasn't it? At the end of the day he was only the Intersect, and that was all Ward ever needed him to be. Their cover was all well and good, but it was only a cover, and Ward only had to do it because no one would believe that Leo Fitz was dating a woman, much less Bobbi Morse. Ward was a master of disguise and deception, though, so it all worked out amazing well in favour of keeping their lie intact.

Even Jemma and Trip fell for it.

The Orange Orange was empty, and Leo made his way around the counter, into the backroom that opened up to the stairs down into Castle, their base of operations. Ward followed behind him, not saying a word, apparently not bothered that he hadn't argued with his flat out denial of Leo's prior plans for the evening.

Bobbi was already down there, half-seated on the edge of the briefing table, in her Buy More cover uniform. Bobbi Morse, like Ward, could make anything look good, that uniform included. Lance had noticed. Loudly. Bobbi humoured him, but made it very clear that she was very, very far out of his league.

The idea of CIA agent Bobbi Morse dating Nerd Herder Lance Hunter was hilarious, to Leo.

Probably as hilarious as him dating Grant Ward was to Lance, but that was neither here nor there.

On the screen across from the briefing table, General Hand's torso took up much of the screen, her face passive as she waited for them to file in. Leo liked her, maybe. He wasn't sure, exactly. She kind of scared him in that primal way that authority figures did. “Nice of you to join us, gentlemen.”

“Had to grab Fitz from the Buy More,” Ward explained, taking a seat. Leo dropped into one across from him, waving a hand lightly.

“Hi, General.”

“Hello, Leo,” she greeted, monotonous. Not that she didn't care – maybe – that's just how she was – possibly. Bobbi smiled and handed him a package, a thin sheaf of papers all bound together in a folder. “I'll try to be brief about this. I'm going to need you three to infiltrate a gala being held by one Ian Quinn this evening. It seems Mr. Quinn not only has extravagant wealth he sprinkles over funding environmental efforts, but significant ties to Fulcrum. Your mission will be to infiltrate the gala and thereby Quinn's estate, and make your way to his vault. Our sources say that he has a hard drive in that vault that holds key Fulcrum intelligence. Bobbi, Leo, you will be posing as college sweethearts brought together by your love of environmental studies. Ward...”

Leo waited for it. Ward's covers were usually bartenders, or waiters, or bellhops. In the world Leo inhabited, he was necessary to be Leo's boyfriend. Outside of that world, Bobbi was a very versatile agent, and could carry the love story for the two of them.

“You will be posing as a waiter.”

There it was. Ward nodded, but Leo could see the clench of his jaw. He wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of twirling around a room with a tray of champagne. Leo very quietly was. Waiting pants always seemed to accentuate one of Ward's assets.

If he wasn't careful, he was going to drift off and miss something important.

“Bobbi, it will be your job to engage Mr Quinn in conversation about the latest developments in his environmental adventures. Leo, you will excuse yourself to use the facilities once Agent Morse as Quinn's full attention, and then meet with Agent Ward to make your way to Quinn's vault. Your knowledge as the Intersect will be invaluable there. I want you to watch the information broadcasting from the hard drive while Ward transfers it to an external. If any of the file names or content cause you to flash, pass this information on to Ward.” Hand looked between the three of them. “Agent Ward, you will then get out of the manor, and Leo will return to Bobbi, at which point, both he and Agent Morse will excuse themselves from Mr Quinn's company, and meet up at your rendezvous point off the property. Understood?”

“Yes, General.” Bobbi and Ward answered in unison. Fitz watched them smirk and nod at each other across the table. Even though they came from differing agencies, they had a mutual respect for each other's abilities.

Leo raised his hand. “Uh, General, I actually had plans with my sister tonight.” Hand's eyebrows raised towards her hairline. “So... how... Late do you think this will go?”

Hand looked a little more than faintly annoyed, and Leo wished he'd bitten his tongue a little sooner. “Fitz,” she addressed him by his surname, a clear indicator of that annoyance. “I don't think I need to remind you about the importance of your involvement in these assignments to your country. You will go with Ward and Morse tonight to Ian Quinn's gala. That is all.”

The screen went black and Leo tipped his head back on his chair, groaning.

Great.

What excuse was he going to have to feed Jemma tonight?

 

 

“You know, Jemma wasn't very happy with me tonight – which means she isn't going to be very happy with you, next time you come by.”

Leo knew one thing for certain, and that was that, whatever his concerns were about Ward's feelings for him, the NSA agent did actually like his sister. That wasn't surprising. Everyone liked his sister. She was hard not to like, the same as her boyfriend, Antoine Triplett. He kind of hoped that would make Ward at least a little apologetic.

Ward, for his part, though, merely shrugged as they made their way up the back staircase. “I'll make it up to her,” he answered, checking the corner. Leo did his best not to blatantly eye the curve of his ass, before following him around the corner and down the hall.

“Make it up to _her_?” He asked, voice low, annoyed. “I'm supposed to be your boyfriend, maybe you should make it up...” Leo paused, thinking about that. No, it had been Jemma's plans that were screwed, that night. He had just been part of them. “Nevermind.” Hurrying behind Ward, he glanced back, making sure no one had followed them upstairs.

“Nevermind, exactly,” Ward muttered, checking another corner before leading Leo down it. “You signed...” Ward's pause was uncharacteristic, and for a second, Leo thought he must have heard someone coming. It seemed to be the exact opposite of that, though, because the other sighed, turning slightly to look at him. “Listen, I know you didn't sign up for this. It just sort of... happened to you, and it sucks. Sorry I'm such a dick, sometimes.”

For a second, Leo couldn't do anything but gape.

Then for another second he could do nothing but frown and furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

Then, for another second, he only managed to narrow his eyes a bit more.

“...It's okay.” He answered, finally. “I know you don't have any people skills.”

Ward rolled his eyes, but there was something of a smile playing around the edges of his mouth. Leo wished he would smile. He was so handsome when he smiled. “At least you keep up with...” He trailed off, eying the hallway in the direction they'd come.

Leo waited a second, listening. And then he heard it, too.

Voices. At least two.

Coming directly towards them.

_Damn it_ .

Leo only had time to glance back down the hall, and back at Ward, before the other man was crowding into his space, pushing him against the wall, and pressing his mouth to Leo's neck in hot, teasing kisses.

He didn't even need to think to act.

It had been something he'd wanted for so long – okay, maybe three weeks of the month and a half he'd known Ward – that it was nothing for him to let his eyes roll shut, head tipping to the side, fingers curling in the thin satin of the back of Ward's server's waistcoat. A small sound escaped him, something he couldn't have held back, not with the way Ward's mouth was sliding down his neck, and he forgot about the voices approaching, until they were close enough that Leo was dimly aware of the shocked inhale when they stopped.

Ward, it seemed, was much more than  _dimly_ aware of them, however, and drew back a beat after, giving the two men a sheepish grin. From their attire, they were some of Quinn's household staff. Leo had a feeling that he was giving them a half-drunk smile as they stood there, surveying the scene.

“...Just a few more minutes, and I'll be back to work, boys.” Ward said, voice light, different from what Leo was used to. “Those champagne samplers did a number on my self-control...”

One of the men nodded, and pointed further down the hall. “I'd suggest one of the guest bedrooms, rather than the hallway...”

“Thanks,” Ward beamed, tugging Leo by the hand. “Couldn't help ourselves.”

The men nodded, and turned, going back the way they came, as Leo and Ward moved further down the curved hallway, Leo barely managing to get his feet to cooperate. As they put distance between them, he caught one of the men saying, “Didn't he come with the hot blonde in the blue dress? Poor chick...”

Yeah, something told him Bobbi wouldn't be all that upset.

“You still with me?” Ward asked, dragging him to a halt in front of a door Leo suspected had nothing to do with being a guest bedroom. He wasn't sure when they'd taken another right and then a left and ended up outside the room that housed Ian Quinn's walk-in vault, but that was definitely where they now stood.

Leo nodded, clearing his throat and shaking his head a little to clear it while Ward picked the lock. He couldn't find it in him to be embarrassed at how obvious he was being. It was no secret to Ward that he harboured some kind of crush on him. He was a typical guy, too. Hot guy you have a crush on gets his mouth all over your neck? You're gonna end up with a little bit of a fuzzy head. That's just the way it went. “Yeah, I'm good.”

“You're _sure_?” Ward asked, paused with his hand on the doorknob.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm sure,” Leo urged. The furrow of Ward's eyebrows told him that his accent was a little thicker than normal, and the other man was taking a second to suss out what he'd said.

“All right,” Ward allowed. “Because once we're in there I need you focused.”

“I'm focused.”

Ward raised an eyebrow.

“I _will be_ focused.”

Ward nodded once, brisk, and opened the door, heading for the vault. They were on a timer now, and every second counted. Not a single second could be wasted daydreaming about the heat of Ward's breath against his skin while he'd kissed a trail from his jaw to his shoulder.

Leo really hated that those daydreaming seconds would have to wait until later.

 

 

The mission went off without a hitch, minus, well...

“That hurt, you know.” Leo muttered while Bobbi leaned over across the back seat of the SUV Ward was driving, pressing a ice-pack to the asset's cheek. “You didn't have to hit me so hard.”

“She was giving you the hints, you should have rolled with it,” Ward said. His eyes caught Fitz's in the rear view mirror. “We're going to have to work on your combat and cues.”

“Maybe I got a little bit too much into the role,” Bobbi allowed, giving Leo a small smile. “On the plus side, everyone fell for that. My college boyfriend, screwing around with one of the hot waiters? Ooh, the scandal. I'm surprised we got out of there without some stuck up slick trying to give me his shoulder to cry on.”

“I dunno,” Ward thought, tapping his chin as he drove. “That guy with the redhead looked like he was considering leaving her to come to your aid.”

“No, thank you.” Bobbi answered, leaning back in her seat and grinning at Leo. “I could smell his cologne from across the room. Not my type.”

Leo laughed, pulling back the ice-pack and leaning forward to check his reflection in the rear view while they waited at a red light. Ward glanced his way, and for a second they held each other's gazes.

“Your face doesn't look too bad,” Ward commented. “I don't think it'll leave a mark.”

“Would you kiss it better if it did?”

Leo wasn't sure when his brain had authorized that comment leaving his mouth, but it did. Cheeky and teasing, and out of the corner of his eye he was aware of Bobbi's eyebrows raising, her mouth making a little 'o' of amusement, or surprise, he wasn't sure. Ward, for his part, raised one of his eyebrows, eyes flicking to Leo's cheek, and back to his eyes.

The car behind them honked, and Ward turned back to the road, moving the SUV forward, paying attention to the traffic once more.

The moment was gone.

Leo settled back in his seat, dropping the ice-pack back into the first aid kit between himself and Bobbi. Looked like his dreams tonight would be a replay of that line, while he stood at the front of every class he'd ever been in, without his pants on. True embarrassment.

“I guess,” Ward said, catching Leo's eyes in the rear view again. It took a moment before it dawned on him what the other was answering. “Wouldn't want to have to listen to you whine about it.”

Leo smirked, glancing at Bobbi, and catching the smirk crossing her own face as she shook her head.

Maybe those dreams would be less about true embarrassment, and more about Ward pressing kisses to any inch of Leo's exposed skin possible, in the open hallway of a potential Fulcrum megalomaniac's house.

It wouldn't do anything for his lingering crush, but right then, riding the high of a mission well done, with a bonus tossed in, Leo Fitz, Intersect, couldn't really find it in him to care.

 


End file.
